A Brief History Of India's War On Cow Slaughter And How People Have Reacted To It
Kerala and West Bengal, among a few other states, have defied the ban.
India is reeling under debate, protests and violence over cow slaughter. While the sacred animal is revered by a section of the majority community, there are many groups in the country who have consumed cow as a cheap and easily available source of protein for many years.
Here¡¯s a timeline of incidents of ban and subsequent violence connected to cow slaughter:
Currently, it has become a pan-India issue with some of the states clearly divided over the issue. The matter is not limited to cow now, it has been extended to all sorts of cattle, including buffalo, bull and camel. While it seems that all of the cow-slaughter-beef hoopla began with the advent of Narendra Modi-led Bhartiya Janta Party government in 2014, the truth is that it actually began way back in 1955 with the Congress party at the Centre.
AP
Before the BJP was even formed in 1955, Congress had banned cow slaughter in 24 states across the country. Since Modi became Prime Minister, however, the focus on cow slaughter has undoubtedly increased, along with the number of lynching cases related to the ¡®holy¡¯ cow. In fact, the BJP won national elections in 2014 with a clear majority, pledging in part to ban cow slaughter. The problems, since then, has been that several groups calling themselves cow vigilantes are turning violent on the issue and have actually killed several people in the name of saving cows.
Let's have a look at what has happened so far since 2014:
March 4, 2015
Maharashtra government banned beef, with a five-year jail term and Rs. 10,000 fine for anyone found in possession of beef.
March 16, 2015
AP
Following Maharashtra, Haryana imposed a five-year jail term and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for selling beef.
May 30, 2015
Irony of india
Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, 60, was killed in Rajasthan's Nagaur district following rumours that he killed 200 cows for a feast. Pictures of carcasses went viral on social media and thousands of young men gathered to murder him.
August 29, 2015
A few people from Chilla Village near New Delhi¡¯s Mayur Vihar area clashed with four truck drivers who were reportedly transferring buffaloes to a slaughter house in Ghazipur.
September 28, 2015
sabrangindia
Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri was lynched by a mob, who accused him of killing a cow and consuming its meat on Eid. An FIR was filed to investigate his murder. It was later found out that Akhlaq was not possessing cow meat.
October 1, 2015
bangalore mirror
Six students of Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, Kerala, were suspended for organising a beef fest on campus as a way to protest against the abovementioned lynching.
October 16, 2015
In Himachal Pradesh¡¯s Sirmaur district, a mob lynched a man for smuggling cattle, allegedly.
January 13, 2016
BCCL
A group identifying themselves as protectors of cow attacked a couple at a railway station in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly carrying beef.
March 18, 2016
In the Latehar district of Jharkhand, two Muslim men, including a 15-year-old were first brutally assaulted and then hung from a tree for transporting cows they purchased from a cattle fair. It was reported that the criminals belonged to a local Gau Rakshak group.
May 6, 2016
AP
Bombay High Court allowed the consumption of imported beef, but uploads the government¡¯s ban on cow and bull slaughter.
June 2, 2016
A mob identifying themselves as cow activists beat alleged cattle smugglers in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan. Then they also took pictures of his bare, unconscious body.
June 10, 2016
AP
The Gau Rakshak Dal in Haryana¡¯s Gurugram, beat and force fed cow dung to two people allegedly transporting beef.
July 10, 2016
Bajrang Dal members attacked a Dalit family in Karnataka¡¯s Koppa as they thought there was beef inside their house.
July 11, 2016
Around 35 gau rakshaks beat up seven from a Dalit family for allegedly skinning a dead cow in the Gir Somnath district of Gujarat.
July 26, 2016
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Two Muslim women are beaten up at Madhya Pradesh¡¯s Mandsaur railway station on the ground that they were apparently carrying beef.
January 27, 2017
The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking a nationwide ban on cow slaughter. The apex court dismissed an activist¡¯s proposal to prohibit the slaughter of cows across India.
Also read: Jaipur Hotel Sealed After A 'Gau Raksha Dal' Mob Accused The Owner Of Cooking Beef
What¡¯s happening now?
On Friday, May 25, 2017, the Environment Ministry issued a notification effectively banning cow slaughter across the country, which of course led to a lot controversy.
PTI
According to the notification, only those who produce a written declaration that the cattle will not be sold for the purpose of slaughter will be allowed to sell them. Upon the sale of cattle, the animal market committee will take an ¡°undertaking¡± that the animals are for agricultural purposes and not for slaughter.
AFP
States where the ban is effective include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Bihar, Delhi and Gujarat, among others.
On May 27, 2017, Kerala¡¯s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to the PM saying that the country-wide ban on cow slaughter is an intrusion of state rights and that the ¡°new rule is against principles of secularism and federalism in our country¡±. He has also been reported as saying that Kerala doesn¡¯t need a lesson on food habits from ¡°Delhi and Nagpur¡±.
BCCL
Other states who have expressed defiance include West Bengal, Karnataka and Puducherry. PTI quoted Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy as saying the ban as ¡°autocratic and a clear case of infringement on the rights of people relating to food habits¡±. Also, Kerala High Court has sent a notice to the central government.
People in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kerala have also taken to the streets to protest against the central government¡¯s ban on cow slaughter, and in turn beef.